Future of Music Coalition Publishes Results of Survey on Musicians and Health Insurance

Washington, D.C.— Musician education, research and advocacy non-profit organization Future of Music Coalition (FMC) has published its findings from a survey of musicians’ access to health insurance, which was conducted in March 2010.

The “Taking the Pulse” survey found that, of the 1,451 respondents, 33 percent said they do not have health insurance. This is nearly twice the national average of 17 percent uninsured, as estimated by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Executive summary and full report available here: http://www.futureofmusic.org/article/research/taking-pulse-survey-health-insurance-and-musicians

This was an opportune moment to gauge musicians’ access to health insurance. While FMC was running this survey, Congress passed the Affordable Health Care Act, which instituted a number of new protections, tax credits and safety nets for citizens. But, because of this law, health insurance is no longer an option — by 2014, most Americans will be required to secure coverage.

“The data suggests that cost and lack of awareness are still major reasons why many musicians are uninsured,” says FMC Education Director Kristin Thomson. “86 percent the musicians taking our survey who don’t have coverage say it’s because they can’t afford it. But our experience advising musicians through our HINT program has also shown us that some musicians who think they can’t afford coverage may not be aware of all the public and private health insurance options available to them.”

The results also underscore the structural barriers that musicians face in navigating a health insurance system that’s largely structured around employer-provided coverage. Musicians and artists often work on a freelance basis — performing or composing for specific events, albums or projects — with compensation based on a contracted arrangement. Since they are usually not employees of any particular institution or corporation, they must seek out individualhealth insurance policies. Some music organizations, unions and service organizations offer group plans to their members, but the survey data suggests that musicians’ awareness of these plans is low, although they would join an organization to get coverage.

On May 25, Future of Music Coalition delved into the effect of the health care reform legislation on musicians during a panel at its D.C. Policy Day 2010. Panelists included experts from the health insurance and arts and culture fields, including Adam Huttler from Fractured Atlas, Renata Marinaro from The Actors Fund, and Alex Maiolo, project manager for FMC’s HINT program. HINT doesn’t sell insurance — it instead helps musicians better understand their health insurance options through free, confidential phone consultations with one of FMC’s health insurance experts (who are also musicians).

On Friday, May 28, an impressive array of North Carolina musicians will come together at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC to celebrate the life and music of Alex Chilton, legendary Big Star and Boxtops front man who passed away in March 2010, and who did not have health insurance. The all-star show will also benefit FMC’s HINT program for musicians.

Of the 1,451 respondents, 33 percent said they do not have health insurance.This is nearly twice the national average of 17 percent uninsured, as estimated by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Those who spend more time or derive more income from being a musician are less likely to be insured

Filtering the data to only include respondents who spend more than 20 percent of their time andmake more than 20 percent of their income from music (n=798), the number of uninsured jumps up to 36 percent.

Of the respondents who said they spend 100 percent of their time andmake 100 percent of their annual income from music (n=245) – respondents who we would call “professional musicians” – 35 percent do not have health insurance.

The highest percentage of uninsured occurs in the middle, where we assume the respondents are splitting their time between part time jobs and a music career. Of the respondents who spend more than 50 percent of their time andmake more than 50 percent of their annual income from music (n=604), 38 percent do not have health insurance.

About Future of Music Coalition

Future of Music Coalition is a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that seeks a bright future for creators and listeners. FMC works towards this goal through continuous interaction with its primary constituency — musicians — and in collaboration with other creator/public interest groups. More